And his first words to her were, "You look beautiful."

Seriously, though...

It's sweet and tender and I'm such a sucker for it. 

Women love to hear these things...clearly. See her face? That's what we all look like when we hear compliments like that. :)

Prince William was born just a little over a month before I was, so with every tidbit of media coverage on his life, It has been sort of fun to think, "Hey, we're the same age. Cool." It's like finding out what the people you grew up with have been doing, but uh...you know, cooler because he's a Prince? Yeah.  I've been so excited good 'ol Wills was getting married, and to such a classy catch as the beautiful Kate Middleton...I just couldn't miss out on the excitement, you know? 

So I didn't wake up at 4 a.m. to start watching, but I meant to. Around 4:50 a.m. I dragged myself out to the living room just in time to see the processional start for them to leave the Abbey. My royal-wedding-dedicated roommate had been out there the whole time though and filled me in. Apparently I just missed a lot of prayers and a lot of singing. Which is fine. I was sad about missing the vows, though, until they played a repeat of it during the long ride from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace. Perfection. (minus the whole "til death parts us" part which always just makes me sad, but let's be honest, I still loved watching it.)

Aw, yeah. :) The commentator's words at that moment were my favorite: "That young man does his own thing. He was instructed "one kiss" and this second one was so much better." Bahahha..nice. :)

Her dress is to die for. As tired as I was, I couldn't stop trying to study every detail. Oh man and that tiarra. And the veil! I love the neckline, and the top...I just love the whole thing. And they rode in a horse drawn carriage! That's not a movie, that's someone's real life. * sigh *

And for all the guys out there who can't for the life of them understand why some girls like me are crazy and care so much about a royal wedding, let me clue you in: IT'S A ROYAL FREAKING WEDDING! She's living out all our fantasies of becoming a real PRINCESS. Or a Duchess. But you get the point. She married a PRINCE. * sigh * You really don't get it??!?!!?!?!?!?! (Kaley, the overabundance of punctuation there really has a purpose. It expresses my incredulous outrage concerning the situation.) 


I would hope you get it now. Otherwise there's just no hope for you and every time you whine and cry about girls who don't turn backflips and somersaults about...I don't know...the superbowl? I want you to remember this moment.

Confession: I've been speaking in a British accent in my head all. day. long. :) I also wrote this entire post in a British accent. You should hear me; I'm pretty good.

Just as a sort of side note...although, maybe it could be deemed a little more important than a mere sidenote, but the Bishop of London's sermon afterward was BEAUTIFUL, I thought. You can read it here. He had me listening from the very beginning:

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” So said St Catherine of Siena whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves.

Many are full of fear for the future of the prospects of our world but the message of the celebrations in this country and far beyond its shores is the right one – this is a joyful day! It is good that people in every continent are able to share in these celebrations because this is, as every wedding day should be, a day of hope.  

In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and the groom as king and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future.

A spiritual life grows as love finds its centre beyond ourselves. Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this; the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life.

It is of course very hard to wean ourselves away from self-centredness. And people can dream of doing such a thing but the hope should be fulfilled it is necessary a solemn decision that, whatever the difficulties, we are committed to the way of generous love."

I just love it. :) 

What to do when you're confused: run away, don't talk about it, and distract yourself with things that don't actually matter. This is healthy.

Love. 

Bah. 

Sometimes I wonder if I know to to be in love anymore. I know, you've already tuned out. It's cool, you can stop reading but I'm gonna keep writing for reasons unknown to even me. Whatever. It's not this all-encompassing worry I have, but every now and again I find myself wondering...hmm. I could get more into that, but then you'd have to read it and before that happened, I'd have to think about it and actually figure out what's going on in my life and that's just way too much effort these days.

So anyway: after last night I'm pretty sure I have no problems in that love area whatsoever. Of course the age difference may worry some, but I think it's a pretty good starting point again. I just need to watch movies with cute little Thomas Robinson in them because he is by far the most adorable little boy I've ever seen outside my own nephews, and I don't care who I have to marry in order to get the clone of that little boy, but as of last night, I am willing to do whatever may be necessary. (Stop it. I can see your raised eyebrows right now. I know he's a character. But I'm pretty sure my little boy will be just as smart, brave, neurotic, and quirky as this one was.) Of course, little boys aren't scary like the big boys are. They haven't learned how to be scared or stubborn or frustrating quite as well as us big kids have yet, and they just melt me.

That's all.

I could've written about how much I collectively loathe Women's Conference weekend because parking is horrendous and that many women in one place all at once even makes MY brain want to explode...but I didn't. I wrote about a cute little boy instead. (For the record, I went with my mom at least once when I was younger and I remember it being a good experience. It also brings a lot of people I love into town, so that's a good thing about it...don't be mad Cal, I know you all went and I clearly exclude you from my parking frustrations.)

I just hate working on campus during events like this. They should let me stay away from work for two days like they let me go home a few hours early during graduations. This is almost worse than my apparent sense of entitlement right now. Ahem. :)

Oops, I wrote about it. :)

Just...isn't he the cutest little boy EVER? * sigh *

Are you shaking your head at my seeming lack of direction right now? Sorry. Trust me. The good posts are always spaced out by the random ones. I'll come around again as soon as my brain can function on a normal human level. Pray it's soon.

Side note: I'm grateful for EFY polos today because it meant I didn't have to think about what to wear this morning. I guess that's a perk of the job...if you call having 20+ colored polos as an option a "perk." :) One less decision DeeAura had to make today.

Mission: seems sort of impossible right now.

I'm trying to get the internet back since we moved, and it's taking forever. I will conquer, however, and you will be once again subjected to all things DeeAura's brain and pictures that are actually from my life, not google. (yaaaaaaaayyyyy, the crowd goes wild with the anticipated fulfillment of said promise...)

Okay. Not ALL things. Just bloggy things. (I can't decide if I like that word or not..."blogggy." It sounds...sort of gross. I'm never using it again, I think.)

In the meantime, you may know the following tidbits:

you're welcome.

• I'm finally learning to sleep on more than just one side of the queen bed. I love it so much it might need a name.

• We ate our first dinner in our new apartment on a cardboard box after moving because it was just too much work to put the table together just yet. It's fun to play ghetto in a nice place. :) Actually, it's kind of fun to play ghetto anytime. But I digress. (only...not really because there's no REAL topic for this post now, is there?)

• I finished being crafty just yesterday and it makes me so happy now to walk into my room and see that hard work. I get cooler EVERY SINGLE DAY, kids. It's mind-blowing. :) Okay, so even if I'm the only one who thinks so, that's fine by me! Sometimes when I try to save money, I just regret it. But most of the time when I do it, it's just further proof of oh so thrifty SKILLS. :)

• I still haven't blogged about scripture journals. Don't think I'm not going to. Because I will. I say this because I'm fully aware every time you see a new post on my blog you almost die from the disappointment that I think there are better/funnier/cooler things to talk about than scripture journals. I'm aware there are not. (cooler things.)

• I keep finding new bruises from moving. I should get some kind of prize. I don't know why, but I think it would be neat if it worked that way.

• I have a half marathon to run in less than two weeks and I haven't gone running in a total of two weeks. I. am. going. to. die. I'm still running it, though. What kind of human being wusses out on a committment like that? NOT ME. gulp. Plus, I saw this really great 13.1 t-shirt the other day. I really want it. I can't wear it until I actually run it because that would be hypocritical. I'd feel like a liar mc-liarton every time I wore it. Therefore, I have to run the blasted half. * sigh *

• I get to work earlier since I moved farther away than I ever did when I lived a hop skip and a jump from my office. Explain that to me if you can. 

• Easter egg hunts with grown ups: HYSTERICAL. One word. I'm sure I'll blog about it, but just in case I don't just know there were grown men climbing on kitchen counters, blocking me from showers (I still got the egg, thanks very much. It does pay to be smaller than boys.) and some people may or may not have been locked outside on the balcony. ...oopsie... :) We also dyed Easter eggs. Some could argue we should be married and doing these things for the toddlers we have running around, but we aren't so we don't and that's why if you'd been a fly on the wall at our Easter dinner yesterday a whole new world would have been open to you. :)

The end.

Until the internet surrenders to my demands, that is...

Self-improvement: CHECK.

I've decided to change my ways. It's a long list, really, but I think the most important change occurred to me this morning. I'm going to start with the little things - because, you know, those make the biggest difference in the end, right?

I will no longer be signing my emails, cards, and letters with words like "Sincerely," "Thank you," "Regards," (but that one is because I'm afraid I'll hit the T instead of the G sometimes...) and "Love."

I'm going to start reflecting how I truly feel sometimes. Other times, I'll use words merely for their comedic or ironic value. Words like "Menacingly," "Disparagingly," and "Gregariously" will now appear just before I proudly sign my name to anything. I also just received something signed "Forebodingly" and I think that is also entirely appropriate. Don't you think that's something that should come on a loan application? I do. But would you expect it to be on an email from your best friend? Probably not. Would it be funny though? Absolutely.

See what I mean?

I think this is a great new beginning on the road to becoming a better cooler person. If nothing else, it will surprise people; throw off their groove for just long enough to cause them to wonder, "Is she serious? Does she really mean that?" And the best part will be I'll never tell so you'll never actually know. :) I like to make people wonder sometimes. It's fun to be ambiguous and...another word that says something about me being funny and clever. I'm too tired to think of the word right now. It'll come to me as soon as I push PUBLISH POST. Promise.

Because that's what I am. Funny and clever. Sometimes weird. I laugh at things that aren't always funny (you may count this post as an example if you don't think I'm funny...because right now I think I'm hysterical) and cry about things that aren't always sad...(one time I started crying when my friend Angela offered me a piece of chocolate and I'd just barely brushed my teeth, and...yep. I did that.) but that's part of the DeeAura package, so...that's all. 

(I full admit this picture is stolen from Hyperbole and a Half.)

I slept very little last night. Something about 3 a.m. makes my brain want to be awake these days. I blame this current trend for the possible oddity of this post. :)

Happy Thursday! I'm packing a million boxes tomorrow. so. cool. can't. wait.

Cantankerously,

DeeAura

Did you know? Adams peanut butter is the only pb that tastes better cold. Fact.

This is a true story. With pictures.

So we did a walk-through of our new apartment on Monday. Our new, beautiful, practically perfect in every way new apartment. On the way from the Omni to heaven, we were laughing about all the people we've met along the way of this moving journey. Let me introduce you:

Liz: she's the cute little office worker at heaven (I've decided that's what the new place is called. That being said, there are a lot of pictures of Italy in heaven. I think this is no coincidence.) who is sweet but is also a sneaky little finagler. She somehow convinced us it was beneficial to move in a week before our current contract was up. While fully aware of what she was doing, I did have to sit back and grin on the inside. Props to you and your oh so "sneaky" ways, dear Liz. We're convinced we'll be friends. Liz is hilarious under all that business, I think...and for some reason, when I see Liz all I can think of is the Magic School Bus. She's not a lizard by any means, but my childhood brain just instantly made that association. Yaaaay, neurons. :)

Rod: Rod works at RC Willey. He's in his mid 40's I'd guess, and he has braces. He was lucky enough to sell all three of us our dream beds. And kitchen table and chairs. He made us a "deal" by taking off our shipping costs for delivery day. What a sweetie, right? *scoff* I love how salesmen make it seem like something like that is such a big favor, a big deal, like they only do that for their favorite customers...oh, you mean the ones who spend more than enough money to make it worth your free shipping while? Yeah. That'd be us. Many thanks, Rod...hahaha. Whatever. I've got the 17-year-olds and the middle-aged men of the world covered. Too bad all the guys inbetween those age ranges haven't figured out what a CATCH I am. :) bhahahahaha....

Wanda: I didn't actually meet Wanda. But Tania and Mel did, and I feel a little jealous that I didn't get to hear this cowgirl tell them to pull our rig right up for the U-haul rental we've decided is worth the $20 for the day. You read that right: our RIG. :) We giggled about that one for a while. I've gotta get me a rig, I think. Man power only goes so far, you know, and I can't fit my college freshman belongings into the back of a little red Jetta anymore.

A) Because I'm not a college freshman anymore.

B) Because I don't have that little red Jetta anymore.

C) Because I own more than the clothes off my back these days. 

Also, when you grow up you have to provide more than sheets for your bed. If you don't have a bed, the sheets don't do you any good. Also, sheets will fit in a trunk but a mattress will not. Interesting.

Thus: The U-haul, our RIG, and Wanda. :)

how. did. that. happen.

I think my favorite part about all these people is that I didn't make any of those names up. Especially Wanda. I already explained my Liz association. And isn't Rod the perfect name for a furniture salesman? I thought so.

Okay. Thank you for making that detour with me. We will now continue on to the beautiful apartment walk-through in heaven:

Isn't it funny how we find little things (or big things) in life that we are just so initially convinced are perfect...only to find upon closer inspection that all things have their flaws, significant or insignificant, but flaws nonetheless? (I could write a whole post on that...but I'll try to stay on track here.) I kind of love the perfect imperfection idea. Is that weird? I'd like to think it's closer to the truth than perfect perfection. At least for this life. Aaaanyway....

That held true as we were forced to further inspect perfection in our new home. There were little paint chips here and there, an oven door with a streak on the inside that will never be cleaned and always bother me (if I let it) because it looks like we can't just wipe down the oven door. Hahah. The balcony for the master bedroom is much smaller than I remembered, and an outlet was trying to come out of the wall. There was a little broken corner of the molding above the door...just sitting there all sad and wishing it wasn't broken.

All these small imperfections are fine, though, because the rest of it is so beautiful and long overdue. The carpets are clean and beautiful and won't cause our visitors to get some kind of weird rash if they happen to lay down on them. (We don't talk about the Omni carpets. shudder.) The kitchen cupboards are beautiful and HUGE. The coutnertops are granite. (Thank you, heaven.) I could go on and on, but I won't. I'll stop there. :) (Look at me, exuding all that verbal self-control.)

Our furniture gets delivered Saturday morning. My ksl dresser project is coming along beautifully (pictures to come). I have a million boxes to pack. Saturday is closing day at the Canyons and I haven't been in at least a month. Do I forgo the day of packing I had planned on Friday for one final day of frozen glory on the slopes?

Aeyaeyae....as if I don't have enough dilemmas swimming around in my head right now...but we won't go there yet. Maybe ever.

In other news, when I set up the electric and gas for our new apartment yesterday, the guy on the other line found out I work for the Brigham Young Univeristy (clearly not a local, btw) and freaked out because "That's where Jimmer Fredette goes to school! That's Jimmer Fredette!" Hysterical. (Mindy, please note I used his name but did not include a picture. That's literally ONLY because I know you read my blog and I love you. Don't forget it, m'kay? Great.) It was all I could do to not burst out laughing every time he said it. JIMMER FREDETTE! (Which was MULTIPLE times, by the way.) It was like he was speaking to a celebrity (me) about an even bigger celebrity (the Jimmer). He ended our phone conversation/business transaction by starting to sing "Teach me how to Jimmer, teach me, teach me how to Jimmer..." holy. crap.

Also: Provo utilities companies are pirates. Orem charges practically nothing to set up utilities. They are saints.

And that's my story about moving so far. The end.

Still processing, and it feels good. :)

General Conference fills me. 

I'm still processing...looking over that list of things I feel like I need to do better, or pay more attention to, or make further notes about things I feel like Heavenly Father is giving me comfort or direction...marking answers to my prayers and questions I had before conference commenced...still processing. I'm sure I'll have more to say later. :)

But for now, I just wanted to say that. It really just fills me, and I'm so incredibly grateful for General Conference.

I love it so much.

I also love that it's online already. I can watch or listen to anything I want to watch or listen to all over again. My only problem now is picking where to start. :)

Favorite website ever:

http://lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2011/04?lang=eng

And just briefly on the whole General Conference note: once again, I know Heavenly Father answers our prayers! Sunday afternoon, I realized I had an additional question/need as the session was starting. I like to write them down by at least the day before conference starts so I can really be listening and paying attention to what I need, you know? But this was a last-minute "Hey, I know it's...well, late, but...there's this one last thing I wonder..." kind of thing.

And don't worry, I cried all through the next talk because it was a direct answer to my question only seconds before. (clarification: cried as in tears sneaking out of my eyes, not as in sobs...haha.) I already knew He answers prayers...it's just that I feel like I'm usually waiting for certain answers. But maybe the thing to note here is that the almost instant answers I have felt lately have had to do with needing comfort or assurance. They're not giant proclamations of things I should do...turn left, turn right. They are little flecks of light, or gold (if you will. do.) that I keep accumulating. It is fabulous.

General Conference is full of these kinds of things. That's just one I could share. :)

How do people live without the gospel? I really don't like picturing it.

* sigh * Also, I'm getting released as Relief Society President this next Sunday...and I have to say...it really almost makes me cry every time I think about it. I wish I could even come close to fully verbalizing how much I have loved this calling, how much I have learned, and how many times it has humbled me exactly when I needed to be humbled; pulled me out of my own troubles at the very moment I could have sunk into frustration and sadness. It has been so much work. So many meetings. So much responsibility. BUT: callings are blessings; they really really are, and I'm so very sad to see this one end.

Women truly are incredible. To know I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father is priceless. I am so grateful to be one, and to know so many quality women. They really do shine. Elder Cook said so much so perfectly of what I feel about the women in my ward, and the women I know. But I think I love most how Elder Scott described his wife: 

"I know what it is to love a daughter of Father in Heaven who with grace and devotion, lived the full feminine splendor of her righteous womanhood."

I don't know how to explain why hearing those words of validation and appreciation means so much, but it just truly does. To know He is also speaking for our Heavenly Father only further strengthens and amplifies my testimony that it is all true. He knows us. He knows what we need. He knows who we are, and what we are worth.

If you think he cried a lot during his talk, imagine what I was doing, especially when he said that. (Okay, me and probably every other woman listening...)

Haha. Yep. That's how we women are sometimes. I'm not apologizing for it because it's a good thing. :)


Remember that part in the beginning where I said something about this being brief?
Oops.

Optimism is awesome.

We watched this last night. It might be the second time I've watched it this week. Oopsie. :) But really...I want to live in that lantern village. Angela was watching it with me, and decided this scene is how she would like to be proposed to. I think this is a phenomenal idea, especially if Flynn Rider is proposing to me. Does this sound off because he's an animation? :) Don't care. Just take a second and enjoy that all over again...



 I got a haircut yesterday. :) It feels so GOOD. It's a little darker, too. FYI: never ever ever pay a discounted amount to someone who has never done your hair. You'll just end up paying more later.

General Conference is this weekend, and I literally could not be more excited. I love this time of year. Plus, I get to go home and be with my family. Dad: pretty please make pancakes tomorrow morning? I've missed those. :)

In the past month, I have bought a SWEET new bed, a beautiful new kitchen table and chairs, and I found a bomb dresser on KSL to repaint and re-do. Furniture shopping is so much fun! Now I just need a cool table/desk for my room. I'll post pictures as soon as everything is delivered and set up. I'm SO excited for my new room. :) AND my new walk-in closet.

It makes me so giddy. :)

Now, on to running. Remember that half marathon coming up in my future? As in: MAY? Ayeaeyae....TIME is killin me here, folks!

 I have to keep running. I only ran twice in the past week because work is starting to pull me into slavery mode (It's okay, I know what I signed up for. I'm just...saying.) and I keep running out of personal time.  I'm running crazy, but...hahah. It just seems like more of the running is done in heels these days, and...I should probably just start wearing flats...or my running shoes to work. :)

But never fear, I listened to President Uchtdorf's talk from last conference this morning for motivation and a good reminder, so...back on track: NOW. How has this talk not gotten old to me yet? I love it. Every word.



P.S. I got a new scripture journal last week, and I'm reeeeeaaallllyyy excited. I'll write about that soon. Oh, do you think that sounds like a boring post? It won't be. Trust me. :)

I read this article last week about Optimism in a BYU Wellness Newsletter, and it changed a lot of my perspective. I'd share it now, but I have to run. I'll put it up as soon as I'm home. I thought it was great, and I'm working on that whole implementation thing. :) Everybody could use a good dose of extra optimism, right? But until then, I'll just say what they said:

Cultivate Optimism.

You won't regret it.

***Update: Here's the newsletter. It's really on Happiness. It's great. (happiness and the newsletter, of course...) Anyway. Have at it. :)